At the museum
by Dragoneyes-99
Summary: A class excursion to the museum takes a dramatic turn when Daisuke's essence is suddenly sucked into a statue. Now Dark, still in Daisuke's body, needs to keep up appearances while trying to get Daisuke back. But Hiwatari complicates the matter...


"And in this hall you'll find all the statues of the Atsuko family. As you can see they had a fondness for animals and collected all manner of..."

The teacher was prattling on and Daisuke was enjoying himself. He loved art and this whole museum was full of it. Perhaps he could even get some inspiration here and there. Although drawing animals wasn't something he was very good in.

Dark, on the other hand, was bored to death. He was sighing and yawning in the back of Daisuke's head. Occasionally he made a remark or two about art that was just screaming: steal me. Daisuke tried to ignore his counterpart as best as he could.

"All right class," the teacher concluded her speech smiling. "Grab your drawing kit and find a quiet place to draw your favourite statue. You have two hours. And remember, I'll collect them at the end."

The class erupted into hushed talk and discussion. Students hobbled left and right to search for their favourite animal. Daisuke had already laid his eyes on a particular one. It was a small bird, sitting on the twig of a tree. It had its wings spread and head tilted up as if it was showing off to an unseen mate.

"Hey Niwa-kun! Did you found your statue?"

It was Riku. She knew he loved to draw and was always interested in his work. Daisuke smiled and pointed at the bird. "I like this one. Do you have found one for yourself?"

Riku made a face. "Well...I'm not as good as you. I might as well just draw the twig the bird is sitting on and be done with it."

Daisuke smiled again and turned towards the statue. He felt strangely drawn to it and, intrigued, traced the lines of the statue with his index finger.

Suddenly he felt a shock. As if the statue was electrically charged. Before he knew it, Daisuke felt himself being pulled in. The electric pulse was assaulting his mind and black spots appeared before his eyes. Daisuke swayed a moment and felt how he slowly lost consciousness. Dark was calling in the back of his mind, but to whom and why?

He felt so tired. He wanted nothing more then to close his eyes and go to sleep. With a sigh, Daisuke slipped away and was sealed off from the outside world.

"No!"

The whole class looked up in shock. All stared at Daisuke who had yelled so suddenly. Riku was perplexed. Why was Daisuke just now looking at the statue with absolute horror?

Dark looked around. All faces were looking at him. He realised that he had shouted out loud to warn off Daisuke, but apparently it was already too late. Daisuke's mind was locked up and Dark couldn't seem to reach him.

And it seemed he had other pressing matters. He was standing, in Daisuke's body, in a museum full of art. And right now, he was the centre of attention. He needed to improvise immediately before people started to get suspicious.

Dark smiled his most sweet smile, well, Daisuke's most sweet smile anyway, and raked his hands through his hair.

"Sorry," he stammered. "I got carried away there. Don't mind me." And sure enough, people averted their heads and continued their drawing.

Dark bit his lip. Man, had he sunken low. Making excuses? The great phantom thief Dark? Not his idea of a good time.

"Daisuke, are you ok?"

Dark's head shot up and he stared at Riku. Why was that girl still there?

Dark sighed theatrical and waved her off. "Don't worry about me, everything is fine."

Riku didn't look very convinced but after a last glance she wandered off.

Grinning, Dark made his way towards the exit as quietly as only he could. However, in the hall waited an unpleasant surprise.

Commander Hiwatari was leaning against the wall. It was clear that he had been waiting there for him. And his expression told Dark that the commander already knew that Daisuke wasn't there anymore.

"If I were you," he said softly, "I would go back inside, grab your drawing kit and draw something."

Dark opened his mouth to object, but Hiwatari cut him short.

"If you don't," still in that unhurried voice of his, "I'm going to have to arrest you. After all, an art thief in an art museum shouldn't be left alone."

"You can't be serious," Dark answered. Unbelief clearly etched on his face. "I can't draw."

Hiwatari advanced, hands in his pockets. Dark backed away. He didn't want to be too near that creepy boy. Or better said: near that creepy being inside of him.

"Then you'd better start practicing your drawing skills," Hiwatari whispered when he came close. "I'll be watching you."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will," Dark mumbled. Gritting his teeth, he turned back the way he came and re-entered the statue room. The scribbling of pencil on paper was heard over the occasional soft talk. This was going to be hard, he sighed.

Determined not to let the statue responsible for this get out of his sight, Dark settled beside it. He looked in the general direction of Satoshi and saw that the commander was looking straight back at him.

Dark grimaced and grabbed Daisuke's drawing kit so that it was clearly seen. Then, with deliberate slowness, he selected a pencil. He twirled the thing around in his fingers to study it. With the pencil in his hand he glanced over at Hiwatari. To his dismay, the commander was nowhere to be seen.

Now where could that good for nothing…

"Your page is still blank…" The words were whispered in his ear and Dark nearly jumped out of his skin. He balled his fists. Hiwatari was going to regret this…

Satoshi was standing behind him, studying the bird statue as if nothing had happened.

"Hmmm…indeed something is wrong with this one." He muttered. "I'm sure this statue is the reason that you are here."

"Hmpf…you make it sound like if that's a bad thing. And by the way, why are you not drawing?"

Satoshi shrugged. "I've already finished."

"How could you…? Oh nevermind," Dark growled. "Go away so I can…eh…paint something."

"Whatever you say," Hiwatari answered breezily. "See you later then." And with that he wandered off. Dark scowled after him.

After a moment of thought he grabbed a piece of paper and then studied the statue. Somehow it had locked away Daisuke's mind. Dark had to return this night to take it away and seal it. At first he had liked being in control of Daisuke's body, but this wasn't what he had in mind. If he liked something he would just steal it, not draw it. After a while he had studied the bird well enough and started to sketch.

"Ok class! Time's up! Stop drawing."

Dark breathed a sigh of relief. Finally!

The teacher came to collect all drawings. When Dark handed it to her she frowned. "Daisuke, I know you can do better. You only drew a pair of wings. I expect you to do better next time."

Dark nodded sullenly, but inwardly he was fuming. He hated making a fool of himself. As fast as he could he ran off.

Finally, after everyone was ready, the class left the museum in an orderly fashion. Dark did his very best to dodge all manner of people just so he could avoid awkward questions and situations.

When they were back at school the class was free to go home. Dark immediately ran away to the Niwa house. There he sprawled on the couch, feeling very sorry for himself.

Emiko came in. "Dai-chan. Is something the matter?"

"Yes, something is the matter," Dark answered exasperated. "Daisuke is gone and I had to keep up appearances. They made me draw!"

But Emiko was not chuckling. She frowned. "Do you know what is responsible for this?"

Dark sighed. "Yes. It's a bird statue in one of the museums. I'm going to collect it this evening. Though I have no idea what went wrong in the first place. I should have sensed something was wrong."

"It's not your fault Dark," Emiko assured him. "Just retrieve the statue as soon as possible and we'll bring back Daisuke."

Finally evening settled in. Dark soared through the night sky, taking care not to be seen. Because right now, he was still in Daisuke's body and it wouldn't do his other self any good if he was recognized.

As he circled around the museum to find a good landing spot Dark saw movement below. When he looked again there was nothing there. He frowned. Hiwatari must be out there somewhere.

Dark suspected that Satoshi would only be here to catch Dark. As soon as he would switch to his own body Satoshi would strike. What to do about it? Perhaps Dark should just seal the statue here and there and relinquish control to Daisuke. Hiwatari wouldn't arrest Daisuke now would he…?

An evil grin spread across his face as he landed and opened a window. No, Hiwatari wouldn't do that, so he, Dark, could tease him a bit before he had to go. Very silently, Dark entered the museum. He walked cautiously through the hallway, going straight for the room with the animal statues.

Dark wasn't surprised at all when he saw Satoshi standing there.

"Good evening commander," Dark smirked. "Can I help you with anything?"

Satoshi frowned. "I was just curious," he answered, "how you would get Daisuke back."

"Right, and If I do you would immediately arrest me am I right?"

"Well, thievery is against the law," he answered offhandedly.

"I'm not stealing anything." Dark replied innocently. "However, I do need to study this bird. So if you would kindly step aside."

Silently, Hiwatari stepped aside, though he continued to watch.

Exasperated, Dark rounded on him. "I work alone. If you don't leave you'll never get Daisuke back."

"Alright," the commander finally said. "But I'll be waiting for you. Dark."

"Yeah, I'll be back, you know that. Stealing things is a lot more fun with you around. Now off you go. You'll see Daisuke in the morning at school."

For a few long seconds Satoshi's eyes stared into those of Dark. At last he wandered off and disappeared into the shadows.

Dark sighed. Now back to work. With practiced ease he lifted the bird off it's pedestal and hid it in his backpack. Grinning he exited through another window and flew back to the Niwa's. Satoshi was nowhere to be seen.

At home, it was not difficult for Emiko, Kosuke and Daiki to determine what had happened and the lock down of Daisuke's mind was reversed. The latter was, of course, very happy to be back. Daisuke didn't remember anything, but Dark wasn't going to elaborate. Now he could lay back again and leave the school drawings to Daisuke.


End file.
